Parliament Endorses all Ombudsman's recommendation from his 2010 Report

19.10.2011 16:15

Category: work and news

MPs endorsed in a unanimous vote on Wednesday the recommendations in the annual report of the human rights ombudsman, which points to poor performance of inspection services, violations of labour market legislation and the issues of hate speech and the rights of children. All deputy groups expressed support for the report and the ombudsman's work.

Addressing the MPs on Monday, Ombudsman dr. Zdenka Cebasek - Travnik labelled the cooperation between her office and the parliament as "good" but added that it could be better.

The ombudsman also told MPs that so far the government had failed to address the issues highlighted in her 400-page report for 2010, which is why she proposed an analysis of the response to her recommendations.

Commenting on the report, Bogdan Barovic of the opposition National Party (SNS) said in Tuesday's debate that he was happy to see it "pinpoint the main problems clearly and honestly".

Meanwhile, Joze Jerovsek of the opposition Democrats (SDS) expressed disappointment over the fact that most instances of intolerance and hate speech occurred in parliament. "If this happens in this house, we cannot be surprised if it spreads outside parliament."

Unaffiliated MP Julijana Bizjak Mlakar was most bothered by the numerous violations of the labour market legislation highlighted in the report, such as the non-payment of wages and social security contributions, as well as accidents at work.

"This report mirrors our rule of law and the social system. We can just wait for the report to be processed or we can actually change something if there is political will," commented Radovan Zerjav of the opposition People's Party (SLS).

Majda Potrata of the ruling Social Democrats (SD) praised the work of ombudsman, saying that it had been improving over the years. She pointed out that the government had also taken an important step forward by endorsing the report.

Outgoing Labour, Family and Social Affairs Minister Ivan Svetlik labelled the work of the ombudsman as "important and irreplaceable" and touched on the most burning issues - labour and the social affairs.

He stressed that the number of unemployed and those eligible for welfare benefits had gone up in recent years, but that Slovenia was still among the six EU countries with the lowest poverty rate.